Thoughts, comments and observations about the Chicago White Sox from the Communications Department.

Comments on the Iguchi Trade

Friday, July 27, 2007

Comments, Quotes and Points Made This Afternoon Following the Trade of Tadahito Iguchi to the Phillies

Today’s trade accomplishes three things for the White Sox: it opens a spot for Danny Richar to come up and play right away so that he can be evaluated at the major-league level against August competition; it clears close to $1 million dollars of payroll (which is what Tadahito is owed over the final two months of the season) … this savings can now be reallocated; and it gives us another minor-league pitcher. From Tad’s standpoint, it gives him a chance to go to Philadelphia, try to win another ring, and then decide what his future holds after the season.

A couple of facts to keep in mind … we would not have received compensation draft picks for Tadahito had he played out the season with us, and this deal was not in the works until today when Ken Williams picked up the phone after Chase Utley was hurt last night.

Comments from those involved …

From Tadahito:

"I didn’t know Chase Utley had been hurt. I actually wondered why they (the Phillies) had made the trade since they already had a third baseman.

When asked his fondest memory with the White Sox, he obviously talked about winning the World Series.

"And my chance to share 2 1/2 years with such great teammates."

Iguchi will return to Chicago with his new team on Monday, a fact that drew a chuckle.

"Chicago is the only American city where I have lived. I like this city. I’ll miss this city and the crowd cheering me with the ‘Gooch’ sound."

From Ozzie Guillen:

"Tadahito has been great for us from Day 1 to yesterday. He’s been consistent and committed to our team. He came here and we asked him to be a different ballplayer than he was in Japan.

"I appreciate the way he performed for us. He was a class act on and off the field. He gave us a lot of happiness. One of the worst things about baseball are times like these when you have to trade your friends and people who mean a lot to you.

"Iguchi had a lot to do with the rings we are wearing.

"This is good for him. He may have a better chance to be in the playoffs and maybe get another ring."

And on the arrival of Danny Richar tomorrow to play second base every day …

"He will play everyday if he’s ready. The opportunity for him is there."

From KW:

"This is an opportunity to see Danny Richar play, to see him out there and evaluate him against major league teams that are competing for a playoff spot. We need to have a good read on what we have in Danny Richar."

When asked to describe Richar’s game, KW replied:

"Just watch him play tomorrow. If he answers the question, it’ll be one less thing for me to worry about."

On Tadahito:

"He was saddened he would be leaving Chicago, leaving this ballclub.

"We can’t say enough about what he meant to us, hitting in the second and playing defense everyday. He’s been an outstanding player for the White Sox."

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26 Comments

I gotta say…they spin it well… I also talked to a friend of mine, who’s one of the wisest baseball people I know, and he said essentially the same thing. If we had kept Gooch until the end of the year, chances are we’d get nothing in return. I will still miss GOOOOOOCH. Always tough to lose a part of the family… But, this is a business…

Gooch for a Single A Relief Pitcher…???????
Was This Trade Made witha Gun Pointed to Someone’s Head…?????

The BullPen Stinks NOW…Not in 3 to 4 Years when We MIGHT See this Kid…and Please Dont Justify This By Saying It is Now Our Opportunity to See Danny Richar Play Out the Season To Evaluate Him or That were Saving a Million or so Dollars…as the Jose Contreras Dog and Pony Show Cost $300,000 and a Four Inning Shalacking Every 5 Days…Our Shortstop Stoped Playing Baseball after That Head First Dive Into the Stands During the Postseason of 2005…Concentrate ..Focus On What Needs To Be Fixed NOW…Not On What Issues That Need To Be Taken Care of at the Beginning of 2008…I Have’nt Given Up On the Season…Why Have You…???

you will be missed. good luck to you in philly ( is that the south side east?) anyway, the spin i’ve been reading makes sense ONLY if we had no real plans to resign Tads for the next few years, so at least we got somebody for him…. time will tell, but who is next???????? j.k. see you all in about two months…..

This trade was trash. Richar will come up and play like a bum like all the sox rookies do and then we will be in real trouble when looking for a second baseman next year. iguchi was a solid player who did the little things well.

also about the dye rumors….why is everyone so set on giving him up? you dont have any viable replacements for him. if you think the sox are going to go out and sign 2 outfielders that are better than dye is you are out of your mind. i thought that dye was only going to go if the young outfield busts could actually play well. since that isnt the case dye should be resigned. williams has been trash as a GM and scott and the rest of the PR department can spin it anyway they want to but aside from one season this regime has hurt the sox more than helped.

nice to see frank thomas tonight. he signed for 40 minutes after he took BP. i wish he was still on the team, but williams had to ruin that too.

I can not believe we let one our best second basemen in years go for basicly nothing, and to top it off we keep a short stop that does not even try to play, if this continues i might just jump on the Cubs band wagon.

Wow, Kenny must feel bad for the Philly and their most losses of any professional sports franchise. We have given them Rowand, Garcia and Iguchi for Thome, Floyd and nobody. Do you think he pulls his pants down before he talks to Gillick?

I have been thinking the same thing about Dye. He is definately not having his best year. I would not be surprised to see him sign a 1 yr 7-9 million deal, try to have a better year and then test free agency. Not alot of gaps in right field out there for teams right now.

As Dawn and others have mentioned, don’t ever forget…Baseball is a lower case “s” sport, but a upper case “B” business…
The first time I ever questioned a White Sox trade was back in 1963 when Ed Short traded Luis Aparicio and Al Smith to Baltimore for Hoyt Wilhelm, Ron Hansen and Pete Ward…Over the years, other GM’s on the South Side made trades that made you scratch your head, and others that made more than enough sense…

But try to tell that to the fans who get attached to these players, almost to the point of where they’re like a part of the family…

As to this deal…I feel that this is the first crack in the dam… J Dye may go next,but(and here is where MY attchment goes)please, Kenny, for the love of the Almighty…unless the trade is so overwhelming you can’t help but do it…DO NOT TRADE EITHER GARLAND OR VAZQUEZ !!!

Your pitching corps right now is solid most everywhere in the rotation (minus Contreras), the bullpen is,perhaps, finally getting around…and you DON’T need to mortgage the present for the future, as in the Iguchi deal…

Furthermore, the only reason, in my opinion, that Iguchi did not rip the organization a new one like so many other ingrates who left(Frank,Tim Raines,even Ozzie)is simple…

ps, I would have really not minded if we tried to help Mil.brewers, but they had to get there help from , sd, and gave three good prospects, surely we could have helped the brewers, It really is bad that we jump started the cubs, they took off after sweeping the White Sox. that is terrible in my book, we should help the brewers.

Inquiring minds want to know. As I was watching tonight, my 1 game a week on wgn I can get with dish network and I was wondering what JD’s scar on his face could be from? Anybody out there know? It’s on his right side, can’t miss it.

this may be incorrect but I believe he got them the same way as Inigo Montoya in the Princess Bride. After Count Rugen (the six fingered man) murdered JD’s father, he gave two matching slices to Jermaine’s cheeks. I can only assume JD carries a sword around with him at games seeking vengeance on the man who killed his father. Just a guess.

I can see why they traded Iguchi, Richar looked good for this past game, had a good approach, was not afraid to take a strike, looked relaxed not overmatched, sure one game but he was hitting 350 , good thing diamonbacks had hudson and did not need a 2nd baseman, things starte looking different if owens comes on fields and richar, suddenly you do not need so much, just shortstop , some relief pitching, and I am starting to worry a little about thome, like him who doesn’t but he is starting to look a little old for salary he gets. be fun to see how rest of season goes.

Well, I just got back from the game and it was GREAT. Nice to see Danny Richar get his first big league hit. The ball he hit was used in that run down that got Pods out and Glaus had the ball in his mitt and tossed over their dugout to some fan. I was yelling, Hey – that’s Danny’s ball! But some very cool fan tossed it back and Paulie picked it up and got it into the dugout. Very cool. Also, winning run scored by Richar, homered by Owens. The two new guys. Awesome game. Let’s keep this training moving and sweep tomorrow.

Thanks for the memories Iguchi, cause I don’t think he’s coming back.******* to see a vet who wore the uniform so well, leave for an unknown, but I’m pulling for them both. As far as the prospect, its good even if the pitcher doesn’t pan out, everyone is getting more serious about homegrown talent. Arbitration costs and signing vets have made clubs leery (some more than others). I hope this shows an interest in the Sox organization to take the example of the Twins or the Braves more seriously, one can hope. I think we covered our nut in that we may have the slot capably covered and came up +1 on the single A prospect. And the way folks here are dogging the minor league pitchers in our system, who can complain about adding another arm?

I think the White Sox made a mistake in letting Tadahito Iguchi go !!. I understand why they wanted to see if Danny Richar can play at the major league level !!. But if they really wanted a solid combo up the middle, they should re-sign Tadahito Iguchi for back at second base. And move Danny Richar at shortstop. Juan Uribe and Joah Fields can jointly play 3rd. until Joe Crede returns !!!. Bottom line…GET Tadahito Iguchi BACK ASAP !!!.

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